Every Single Trailer Features a Haunting Cover Of Beloved Pop Song

[Hot Pepsi]

Every single one. I’m glad to know that I wasn’t just imagining this.

https://ontheaside.com/culture/a-brief-history-of-haunting-pop-covers-in-movie-trailers/


http://www.vulture.com/2017/03/movie-trailer-song-covers-please-stop.html

[Sits]

Horrendous. I see there’s now even a go-to artiste or two specialising in the genre. Ursine Vulpine for example.

[Hot Pepsi]

Originally, these songs were sort of an unexpected misdirect.

I recall the first time I saw the Social Network trailer, I thought it was very powerful. The viewer only gradually realizes that the nice piano-and-choir song is Creep and so the disparity between the simple beauty of the music and the, um, creepiness of the lyrics matches the gap between Zuckerberg’s public persona and the character portrayed in the film. More importantly, it dramatizes the gap between what Facebook claims to be and what it mostly really is.

But that only worked because the trailer was unexpected and entirely unique. It didn’t even have any footage of the film.

The songs aren’t necessarily bad, but without the element of surprise or irony, it just falls flat. But I suspect that, even now, the producers think they’re being really clever as opposed to flogging a cliche.

https://youtu.be/w6kxOl4C9mY

https://youtu.be/-PPofXaJ4go


Sucker Punch was an entire (bad) film made, apparently, just to feature these kinds of songs.
https://youtu.be/cxdwEOpGknk

https://youtu.be/iLL7oh4bPnY


Sometimes, however, it kinda works. Karen O and Trent Reznor’s cover of Immigrant Song is cool. But it’s not trying to be ironic. It’s just a very good, familiar song with a bit more of a cold edge. That fits the characters and the story perfectly. And I don’t know if it was even in the trailer. It’s in the credits.

https://youtu.be/L0bD4ts8eWY